Dr. El-Khatib

On Thursday, Ma met for the first time with her new, local doctor.  He is affiliated with Marquette General Hospital Hematology and Oncology Clinic but he sees patients in Houghton (only 30 minutes from Baraga) and sometimes in L'Anse.  His name is Dr. Rafit El-Khatib.

Originally we could not get an appointment until Friday, July 2, but Mavis called them and asked to be put on the waiting list in case there is a cancellation.  It turns out someone did cancel and so we got the earlier appointment on Thursday.

But apparently, Dr. El-Khatib did not have all of the necessary information from the Mayo Clinic.  So during the appointment while Ma, Mavis, and John waited, he called Mayo Clinic requesting additional information. He scheduled another appointment for Tuesday, July 6 and by then he should have all the information he needs from the Mayo Clinic. 

In the meantime, he has scheduled a paracentesis on Monday, June 21 to release the ascites fluid that is building up again.  This procedure will take at least an hour and possibly up to three hours.  It is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Since Mavis has to head back to Minneapolis for a week or two, Jim will be taking Ma to Portage View Hospital in Hancock for the paracentesis on Monday.

Guess who's home?

Ma is very happy to be back in Baraga after a long ride lastnight from Minneapolis. There was a late start, fog, a nice dinner break, and a short stop for some fun at the Mille Lacs Casino in Hinckley.

Mavis and Ma arrived at the apartment at 2:30 a.m. lastnight so everybody will be sleeping in and catching up on some rest today.

Back home

Last week, Ma made her last trip to the Mayo Clinic.

Upon arriving at her appointment, she didn't know that though.  She had blood tests and an evaluation appointment in the afternoon.  Ma saw Dr. Hartmann's nurse practioner, who is more or less Dr. Hartmann's right-hand woman.

At the appointment, the NP talked with Ma for about an hour about all the things going on with the blood test results and future treatment plans.  We were expecting that Ma would have another intravenous chemotherapy treatment, but the NP told Ma that they would not be doing administering it.  She also said that Dr. Hartmann is recommending switching to another type of chemotherapy treatment; a pill that is taken orally.  Since the travel to the Mayo Clinic has been to hard on Ma, Dr. Hartmann is also saying that Ma can transfer her treatment closer to home.   

So right now she is still in Minneapolis waiting for Mave to finish up with school.  Then they'll make the road trip back to Baraga.